Just built up a SS, ended up with a 78″ gear, really enjoying it on shortish rides (<2h), fairly flat but often windy.

Is the rationale to go higher fixed so you can descend OK? I think it might be a killer on longer rides which I would like to build up to.

I could never ride a gear that high. About 69″ here. Good for 40mph for a few seconds on a suitable hill.

Actually 67.8″ according to Sheldon. 20mph @ 100rpm. Seems to work for me on undulating rides. It’s a bit of a pig up steep hills but I’ve got up a fair few on it.

65″ (ish may be 68)here. Started on 75″ and slowly improved my spin. Much better once I learned to love the spin. Helped with my non fixed cycling too rather then relying on grinding away.

74″ (ish) if I remember correctly. I find it perfect for spint/spin training and the odd summer commute to work. Not been out on it for a good few months but it certainly helps with general riding.

moved from 70 to 65 (gradually) in the last few years. has increased my geared cadence too.

can’t see the need to ride much higher.

You guys fixed then?

I did ride fixed in the winter of 89 I think, I got on OK, I just fancy the odd hilly 60-80 miler and doubt I could hack fixed (or that there would be a benefit?)

71 inches for me. 42/16 on a 700c, 32mm tyre. As far as I know traditionally, (a long time ago, when roadies used fixed on winter training bikes) they went for lower gears to develop a nice smooth/fast cadence and enable getting up steeper hills.

edit – I’m not riding fixed just now, the single speed/disk hub I have doesn’t have a lock ring thread and I’ve had differing opinions on using fixed without.

Flip flop with the same ratio 44/16. It works for me either way but sometimes I like to coast 🙂

46×18 for me, think its 67″ish, downhills are worse than uphills, having front and back brakes helps though..

Fixed here Al. I’ve done 70+ mile rides on it no bother.

44:14 when I have the mongrel on the road, not sure what that is in GI. It’s 26″ wheels which I guess lower the GI rating. It’s more for 2 hour blasts but it does work on hills – been down to Grantown and back on it without too much ill effect..

I ride an even amount of fixed/ss, ss is less stressful on group rides especially on wet descents…

fixed for me.

Commuter and town bike are 65″, perfect for spinning along and getting away from lights quickly. 68-72″ for longer distance stuff, bit higher for faster road stuff. 100″+ for racing.

I commute on fixed, 48/16 which is the maximum I would recommend, I don’t live in a hilly area either – 48/17 or 46/16 is a better bet really

42×17 here.

Descending i have no problem i just spine freely and if it gets out of hand i use the brakes.

Its been much underused of late though.

My only road bike is single speed, I think it’s about 68 gear inches or so

Used for my commute to work once a week (32 mile round trip), plus any other local trips to the shops etc

Yes, 100 miles per week including commuting, training and club rides. The rationale is to choose a cadence; 90-95 rpm, for a comfortable cruising speed, say 17 mph and that will give you the gear needed;

so 17 (miles per hour) = 90 * 60 (revs per hour) * XXX (inches per rev) /63360 (inches/mile)

XXX = 17 * 63360/(90*60) = 199.4 (circumferance)/PI = 63″ wheel diameter (this is the standard 42×16 beloved of all off the shelf fixed and SS bikes).

Gear inches are wheel diameter-equivalent so need a correction of PI, hence for 90 rpm, which is where you should be;

XXX gear inches = 3.73 * speed in mph

78″ (42×15) is a big gear for starting out and is really a gear for 20 mph rides. It’s my goto gear for aerobic threshold training and medium paced club runs. That said, I’m currently riding 42×14 or 84″ fixed for sprint and strength training and it is tiring grinding along at 70-80 rpm.

As an aside, riding fixed gives several advantages;

1) you will learn to spin like a god
2) you will learn to clip in like a god
3) you will develop leg strength and speed
4) fewer things to go wrong
5) cadence = speed = power (well a pretty good measure of it)

So for my training I use cadence as a power substitute – force is roughly constant when I ride (I do stand up a bit though), and hence power is proportional to cadence.

Why? I tried fixed many years ago it was entertaining to get thrust into the air when I forgot I didn’t have a freewheel and to get launched when I ran out of ground clearance around a corner but is there any serious reason to do it?

72 fixed for me 89 for time trials .I ought to go lower than 72 to about 68 for the hills here though

That’s a big gear for anywhere with wind or hills
67inches for long rides like Dunwich dynamo 72 for commuting/short blasts.

Used to have a fixed gear when I was at uni. Rode around 100 miles per week, every week, on it around Edin. Used commuting between home, uni and work for best part of 3 years. Went though a few tyres but mechanically nothing to go wrong & super reliable.

Used to run 53*20 or about 70gi I think. Loved that bike; it’s still sat unloved at the back of the shed. Think I might have to get it back on the road for old times sake…

There’s a few hills around here, so 67″ for all day bike rides.

78″ would be too much for my riding.

On road I use 76″ for proper road rides with hills but nothing huge, and 70″ on my commuter (short flat rides but with luggage). I’ve also done 500+ mile multi-day tours but on much lower gearing and luggage – 62″, which was far too low on descents, admittedly.

Off road I use 64″ on my fixed CX which is a hoot, and 52″ or 55″ on the fixed MTB in the Peaks mostly.

is there any serious reason to do it?

shimano freewheels have gone up in price and down in quality; after trashing the last one in less than 3 months i went back to fixed.

There is also a school of thought that says less freewheeling = more pedalling = more training. but i’m not sure i buy that…

Riding fixed creates a flywheel effect which aids carrying momentum, meaning both climbing and maintaining speed on the flat is easier. (Apparently. I don’t actually ride fixed but I do significant hilly road miles on a 42:17 singlespeed.)

I don’t ride the fixed gear bike much these days, but used to use it quite a lot. Also have a SS MTB, and the all road bike was SS for quite a bit of last winter. SS is a good workout, you get used to hugging up the climbs and then easing off over the crests and down other side; fixed isn’t like that and I’d say takes the workout element to a different level.. feels/seems a lot harder – but in a good way – over SS.

I used to commute on 44×14 fixed which is 82in according to sheldon. Was great on the flat once you got it going. Totally unfeasible for anything more than a 5% gradient although I could do 10% gradients as long as I had a run up and could get up them before my legs exploded 🙂

I’ll second the momemtum thing. Once you get speed up it feels much easier to maintain. It’s also great fun trying to do a whole ride without using the brakes or putting a foot down or holding on to anything. Always hated going downhill though, which was the main reason for the big gear. I miss it now I live in a hilly area.

I hated fixed (I just don’t get it, it’s not enjoyable and feels awful) but loved standard SS with a freehweel on my old Langster. Dunno what the ” was, but it was 48-16 which was alright for round here. Could have maybe gone a bit harder/faster if I wanted to. I still pine for another Langster on days like today where it’s miserable and wet out, don’t wanna get my gears all clogged up with crap again!

If you started on 48×16, I’m not surprised you hated it. That’s a hard gear, even on the flat. The slightest headwind will have you cursing.

The real purpose of fixed is to develop pedal stroke and perhaps fitness. An inappropriate gear will do neither.

There is a flywheel effect, but to be honest, once you’ve really developed supplesse, you won’t notice the difference between fixed and gears. My cadence is 95 to 100, I don’t coast, and I can clip in on the first pedal stroke without looking or coasting. That’s on my fixed bikes (yes there are a few) and my geared bikes. The geared bikes can go a little faster, because my top speed on the flat in a group is 26 mph (that’s 130 rpm which is sustainable).

Try it on 64″ or 42×16. Don’t give up too quickly, and it will just click eventually. Then you can play gearing to adjust for ride/conditions/training.

I have different bikes for different gearing, but the goto bike for commuting is the Paddywagon with 42×15. I’d ride Audax on 42×16, the bike is that good, the fact I can’t coast or change gear is immaterial to me.

I ride 80 on my pompino, but that’s just for spanking it into work on a pretty flat commute. Might drop it down a tooth to 85 when the clocks go back – want to run 90 for the club tens and that felt massive last year, so need to get some practice in. Don’t do any long rides on it.

Love riding fixed but couldn’t point to any one thing that is clearly superior about it. Couple of small advantages already mentioned, but really it just feels like a nice way to ride.

I rode fixed (48×18) for a few years on my Pompino, as the weekend rides got longer (60km+) I switched over to single speed as its was nice feeling to be able to freewheel down hills to rest the legs.

I should really fit a sprocket on the flip/flop hub so I can run fixed if I feel like it as it’s nice on flatter rides.

I do the early/late season club runs on fixed when the weather’s crap. 78″ with a fair bit of climbing but I find that I can hang with the slower guys when going up, but not go straight out the back on the downhills like I’d do on a <70″.

I’ve gradually gone from 46/18 to 46/16 on my commuter. 70km a week. I wouldn’t go back down because I spin out on the flat, and I’m finding anything up to 5% ok. I wouldn’t ever consider fixed for my predominantly city centre commute. yeah shimano freewheels suck but they still cost 3 or 4 times less than a WI

I’m at 52:18 on my old steel commuter (SS) – works out around 76 inches. Commute is about 10 miles – mostly flat but the steeper sections of Richmond Park can be hard work with that gearing.

the other bonus is that fixed makes commuting cheap and easy – no rear brake means the back wheel lasts forever because you’re not burning through the rim with brake blocks

No problem with shamano freewheels here, plus i like that they are near silent when coasting.

I run 39×16 (or 17) in hilly areas on mixed terrain. This is with longer cranks though. Running fixed is almost impossible (for me) with long cranks and is made much easier (as is higher gearing) with shorter crank arms.

The smallest 130 BCD chainrings (sugino cranks are cheap to start with) are 39T, doubt you’d need higher than 46T and gives you room to play with rear cogs 16T – 18T.

Free gear calculators for iphones on the app store + don’t run your chain to tight (which may cause early retirement for shimano free wheels?)

For a flat area I’d be looking at 44T/46Tx16T on 165/170mm cranks depending on how long your legs are, go short if you want to try fixed.

As commented above, great for spin and will improve your MTB climbs.

50*15 fixed here. Perfect for rolling 30 mile rides in the winter, which seem to help fitness no end. The furthest I’ve used it for is 50 miles, after which I tried to go up Ditchling Beacon (only just doable ordinarily), and my knees just said no. If you’re going to do longer rides using a bigger gear, build up to it, and try not to have any big hills near the end of the ride, I’d suggest.

They are just like the BMX’s of youth, whatever gear you pick will end up feeling like the perfect gear most of the time, if you ride it enough.

My MTB SS is 33×12 (76 according to Sheldon) and i use it for commuting. Nobbly tyres and a few hills over the 11 miles each way. Feel i get a workout anyway. Wouldn’t like to do any more miles or higher gear.

50:18 with 26×1.5 = 69.5 inches on my commuter. I’ve also done London to Brighton and home to Southampton and the Dunwich Dynamo on it plus 280 miles in 3 days in the South of France.

Just feels right.